If there's one county where people don't need convincing that their water's hard, it's Hertfordshire. Much of it sits on chalk, the same rock that feeds the county's clear chalk streams, and the water that comes out of the tap carries a lot of that chalk with it. We come up the M1 and the M25 to fit and service softeners across the county.
Your water supplier in Herts
Affinity Water supplies most of Hertfordshire. A good share of its water comes from boreholes sunk into the chalk aquifer under the county, which is a big part of why it's so hard. A few places near the county's edges are supplied by other companies, so if you're near a border, check your bill.
Affinity Water has a hardness lookup by postcode, and it's worth a minute of your time. If you're on another supplier, their website will have the same thing. Prefer to have it tested? We test your water as part of the free survey and set the softener up to match.
Herts homes, and where we put the softener
Hertfordshire has a bit of everything, and each type of house has its own sweet spot for a softener.
- Planned towns. Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City were among the first garden cities, while Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead and Hatfield expanded hugely as post-war new towns. That means lots of solid family houses from the 1920s through to the 1960s, often with a lean-to, a utility area or a garage. These are usually straightforward installs.
- Victorian and Edwardian terraces. St Albans, Hitchin, Hertford and parts of Watford have plenty of these. Narrow kitchens and the stopcock in an odd spot under the stairs are the norm, so a compact under-sink softener is often the tidiest option.
- Metroland and larger houses. Harpenden, Radlett, Bushey, Berkhamsted and the Chorleywood side of the county have roomier interwar and modern houses with several bathrooms. Here we size the softener for peak demand, which often means a twin-tank unit.
- New-build estates. There's a lot of new housing on the edges of towns across the county. These homes usually have a combi or a compact cylinder, a small utility room and integrated appliances. A utility cupboard is often the right place.
Chalk water and your appliances
Very hard water leaves scale wherever it's heated. In a combi boiler, that's the heat exchanger, and the result is hot water that's slower to arrive or doesn't get as hot. With a cylinder, it's the coil and the immersion element. Electric showers are a common casualty in Herts, as their heating element sits right in the flow of very hard water. Washing machines and dishwashers scale up, use more detergent and leave more residue.
People often ask us whether a cheaper scale reducer will do. It can help in some situations, but it won't give you the same results as a softener. We've written a fair comparison in softener or scale reducer?
Drinking water stays hard
We always fit a separate drinking tap at the kitchen sink, connected to the mains before the softener, so you keep ordinary unsoftened water for drinking, cooking and making up formula. Softened water from very hard supplies picks up extra sodium, so this matters more in Herts than in a lot of places.
How we get there
From Chiswick, west Herts is quickest via the M25 and the M1 or A41, and east Herts via the A1(M) or A10. Parking is rarely a problem, though some older town centres like St Albans and Hertford have residents' zones, so let us know if there's anything we should be aware of.
Hertfordshire towns we cover
- Watford, Bushey and Croxley Green
- Rickmansworth and Chorleywood
- St Albans and Harpenden
- Radlett and Borehamwood
- Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley and Berkhamsted
- Tring
- Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City
- Potters Bar and Cheshunt
- Hertford and Ware
- Hoddesdon and Broxbourne
- Stevenage, Hitchin and Letchworth
- Bishop's Stortford and Sawbridgeworth
Looking for somewhere else? Our areas page lists everywhere we work.
Hertfordshire FAQs
Why is Hertfordshire water so hard?
Much of Hertfordshire's water comes from boreholes in the chalk aquifer under the county. As rainwater soaks through the chalk, it dissolves calcium and magnesium, which is what makes water hard. Your supplier's postcode lookup will show the figure for your area.
Who supplies water in Watford and St Albans?
Affinity Water supplies most of Hertfordshire, including the main towns. A few areas near the county's edges are supplied by other companies, so check your water bill if you're not sure. Affinity Water's website lets you check the hardness for your postcode in a few seconds, and we'll test it on site at the survey.
Is it worth getting a water softener in Hertfordshire?
For most homes in Herts, yes, because the water is hard enough that limescale builds up quickly in boilers, showers and appliances. Whether it's worth it for you depends on your household and what's bothering you. We test your water and talk it through at the free survey, with no pressure to go ahead.
Get started
Here's how our installation process works, and what's involved in servicing a softener you already have. If you're new to softeners, is my area hard water? and which salt to buy are good places to start. Then use the form below to book your free survey.